The life and times of Robert Mugabe

In Pictures

Robert Mugabe led Zimbabwe beginning in 1980, first as prime minister and then as president since 1987. One of the most controversial presidents in the African world, he was re-elected to presidency multiple times until his forced resignation in November 2017. Let’s take a look at the life of the former Zimbabwean leader.
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Mugabe was born on Feb. 21, 1924, in the Kutama village of Southern Rhodesia, which is now Zimbabwe. The country was a British Crown colony then and the laws were oppressive toward the natives, causing limited opportunities for jobs and education.
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As a child and the third of six children, Mugabe helped his mother earn the livelihood for the family. His father, a carpenter, left to work on a Jesuit mission in South Africa and never returned.
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The primary influence on his life was Father O’Hea, the director of the local Jesuit mission school that Mugabe attended as a boy. It was the school director who instilled in the young man his rights and that of all men to be treated equally and with respect.
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